.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
These remarkable chenets ‘aux Chinois’ with exquisite chasing are recorded in an invoice of 1787 from the ciseleur-doreur François Rémond (d. 1812) to the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre (d. 1796). They were almost certainly commissioned for a Chinese pavilion, such as the one constructed for Marie Antoinette built c.1783 in the gardens of her beloved Petit Trianon or the pavilion designed for Henri-Leonard Bertin by Jean-Jacques Lequeu. Elements in the design of the present lot, such as the strapwork hung with bells, dragons flanking the seated Chinese figures, trellis and tiled roofs directly relate to architectural plans produced by Lequeu, now housed in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. François Rémond in the same year (1787) delivered an important group of gilt-bronze objects in the Chinoiserie style to the Prince Regent, now in the Royal Collection.
The invoice relating to the production of these chenets by François Rémond for Dominique Daguerre describes them thus ‘Pour monture de deux magots chinois, sur coussins élevés de douze quilles sur un croisillon doré d’or mat’. As such they belong to a corpus of works ‘à la chinoise’ commissioned by Daguerre and executed by Rémond in the 1780s that saw the enduring fascination in the arts and culture of the Orient adapted to the prevailing neoclassical tastes of the French elite. These objects were part of a broader trend in the decorative arts, architecture and garden design that saw a number of gardens, jeux de bague, pavilions and galleries constructed in the Chinese taste.
Designed in a fantastical architectural style, these chenets were almost certainly produced for use in a pavillon Chinois and elements of the design correspond directly to designs for Chinoiserie pavilions and jeux de bague by the designer Jean-Jacques Lequeu. A design for a Chinese pagoda by Lequeu shows a figure wearing the same garb and headwear as the figures on the present lot, reposing on a tessellated tile roof of similar design to the roof modelled on the chenets. The same design depicts dragon-like creatures on the roofs of the pagoda above a pierced frieze hung with bells that is closely related to the pierced frieze with bells on the present lot. Another design by Lequeu for the jeu de bague chinois in the jardin chinois of the duc de Chartres at Monceau shows a pagoda with an even more closely related pierced latticework frieze hung with bells.
The marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre (c.1740-1796) was an inventor and dealer of luxurious furniture and ormolu-mounted objects, who supplied works of art to Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, their courtiers and members of the wider Royal family. Documented commissions also came from England for the Prince-Regent, later George IV, whose predilection for Chinese and Chinoiserie works of art first found expression in the magnificent Chinese drawing room at Carlton House, later to reach its zenith in the construction of the Marine Pavilion at Brighton. Daguerre, with the architect Henry Holland (1745-1806), was in charge of work at Carlton House for the Prince Regent, and especially the Chinese Drawing Room. Iconography similar to that on the present chenets including bells, dragons and fretwork can be seen on a number of pieces supplied by Daguerre to the Prince Regent currently in the British Royal Collection. This includes a pair of ormolu-mounted black-ground Sèvres vases decorated with chinoiseries in gold and platinum (RCIN 2347), a pair of ormolu-mounted ebony console tables by Adam Weisweiler (RCIN 13) and a candelabra (RCIN 4246) and a clock (RCIN 2868). An ormolu-mounted Japanese lacquer inkstand supplied to Marie-Antoinette for the château de Versailles and currently preserved in the musée du Louvre (inv. MR 380-76) also displays related characteristics including Chinese figures, a fretwork frieze and hanging bells.
The invoice relating to the production of these chenets by François Rémond for Dominique Daguerre describes them thus ‘Pour monture de deux magots chinois, sur coussins élevés de douze quilles sur un croisillon doré d’or mat’. As such they belong to a corpus of works ‘à la chinoise’ commissioned by Daguerre and executed by Rémond in the 1780s that saw the enduring fascination in the arts and culture of the Orient adapted to the prevailing neoclassical tastes of the French elite. These objects were part of a broader trend in the decorative arts, architecture and garden design that saw a number of gardens, jeux de bague, pavilions and galleries constructed in the Chinese taste.
Designed in a fantastical architectural style, these chenets were almost certainly produced for use in a pavillon Chinois and elements of the design correspond directly to designs for Chinoiserie pavilions and jeux de bague by the designer Jean-Jacques Lequeu. A design for a Chinese pagoda by Lequeu shows a figure wearing the same garb and headwear as the figures on the present lot, reposing on a tessellated tile roof of similar design to the roof modelled on the chenets. The same design depicts dragon-like creatures on the roofs of the pagoda above a pierced frieze hung with bells that is closely related to the pierced frieze with bells on the present lot. Another design by Lequeu for the jeu de bague chinois in the jardin chinois of the duc de Chartres at Monceau shows a pagoda with an even more closely related pierced latticework frieze hung with bells.
The marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre (c.1740-1796) was an inventor and dealer of luxurious furniture and ormolu-mounted objects, who supplied works of art to Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, their courtiers and members of the wider Royal family. Documented commissions also came from England for the Prince-Regent, later George IV, whose predilection for Chinese and Chinoiserie works of art first found expression in the magnificent Chinese drawing room at Carlton House, later to reach its zenith in the construction of the Marine Pavilion at Brighton. Daguerre, with the architect Henry Holland (1745-1806), was in charge of work at Carlton House for the Prince Regent, and especially the Chinese Drawing Room. Iconography similar to that on the present chenets including bells, dragons and fretwork can be seen on a number of pieces supplied by Daguerre to the Prince Regent currently in the British Royal Collection. This includes a pair of ormolu-mounted black-ground Sèvres vases decorated with chinoiseries in gold and platinum (RCIN 2347), a pair of ormolu-mounted ebony console tables by Adam Weisweiler (RCIN 13) and a candelabra (RCIN 4246) and a clock (RCIN 2868). An ormolu-mounted Japanese lacquer inkstand supplied to Marie-Antoinette for the château de Versailles and currently preserved in the musée du Louvre (inv. MR 380-76) also displays related characteristics including Chinese figures, a fretwork frieze and hanging bells.